The All Blacks ended the year with a lot of questions, but Super Rugby might not provide the answers

Saturday, 29 November 2025

Modelling suggests fewer than 5% of people will travel to big events at Te Kaha by bus - falling to 1% for Super Rugby matches.

ANALYSIS: There are a couple of upcoming fixtures on the other side of the world that might make All Blacks fans even more edgy about their team’s future prospects.

On the first weekend of December the Champions Cup competition begins in Europe, with the Bulls playing reigning champions Bordeaux in Pretoria, while the Sharks travel to France to face heavyweights Toulouse.

What we know now from the test season just concluded is that both games will be quality versus quality.

The Bulls have named 18 Springboks in their 32-man Champions Cup squad, including several of the Boks’ fearsome front row, while Bordeaux have the likes of world-class wingers Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Damian Penaud.

Toulouse are set to include a certain Antoine Dupont after a long injury layoff, while the Sharks have a large number of Springboks including Siya Kolisi, Ethan Hooker and Andre Esterhuizen.

The games will stress test both sets of players and coaches and a week after the opening round, the Sharks will host Saracens - Maro Itoje, Ben Earl and Juan Martin Gonzalez - while the Bulls will go to Northampton to face Alex Mitchell, Fin Smith, Henry Pollock and co.

The All Blacks’ main rivals - South Africa, England, France, Ireland and Argentina - now enjoy the advantage of having their players compete against each other in a club setting.

Conversely, Super Rugby Pacific isn’t going to provide that level of competition or diversity of playing styles.

Chiefs players pose for the launch of the 2026 jersey.

The top Super Rugby sides - the Crusaders and Chiefs - would no doubt feel they could acquit themselves well against anyone in the world, but it doesn’t change the fact that New Zealand players aren’t getting regular exposure to the toughest opposition any more.

European rugby is out of sight and out of mind in New Zealand, but that may well be that has encouraged our shared insularity and even ignorance about the quality of players in that competition.

We want to believe that Super Rugby Pacific is world class and cutting edge rather than just a series of internal trials among players who know each other inside out, but the test arena is providing a growing file of evidence to the contrary.

Ironically, Super Rugby is a better consumer product than it was in the years preceding the exit of the South Africans and Argentinians.

All games are now played in the same timezones, the bloated 18-team format introduced in 2016 is long gone, the Fijian Drua have added colour and genuine fandom and the overall marketing efforts have increased.

So, when Christchurch hosts the Super Round next year in what will presumably be a sold-out new stadium it will feel like all is well with the competition.

But Super Rugby has always had a dual purpose - to stand up as a competition itself and also prepare the players for test rugby.

The latter is now coming under scrutiny, and we’re all complicit.

For example, while we are all lamenting the All Blacks’ difficulties under the high ball now, how many of us are going to be cheering if the Crusaders or Highlanders put up 100 box kicks under their covered stadiums next year?

The value in South African participation, therefore, can now be seen in the light of how they forced New Zealand players to be uncomfortable and exposed some deficiencies - that’s where the growth came from.

It leaves the All Blacks selectors with a puzzle to solve. They’ll know exactly where the All Blacks are falling down, and where the improvements are needed.

But will Super Rugby give them the answers they are looking for? Not in the way it once did.